UK ace killed, driver burned in high-speed Porsche crash

Andrew Korner
Journalist
Andrew was born and bred in Ipswich and has been at the QT since 2007. After starting out on the country rounds, he moved onto court reporting and then police and emergency services, which he has now been covering for the last three years. When he is not working on police rounds Andrew is busy sifting through the garbage of famous people, in search of ideas for his weekly column, the Naughty Korner. As there are very few famous people in Ipswich, Andrew is often forced to write his column about...

A BRITISH professional racing driver was killed and another man seriously injured after a Porsche crashed and burst into flames during a private lap session at Queensland Raceway.

Sean Edwards, 26, was sitting in the passenger seat of the Porsche when it left the circuit at high speed and crashed into a wall, bursting into flames.

It is believed Edwards was instructing a 20-year-old man driving the car, who was trapped by his waist in the wreckage for three hours.

The survivor was taken to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital by the EMQ Helicopter suffering burns and trauma to the majority of his body.

Edwards was a driver in this year's Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup in Europe and also drove in the 2013 Ron Howard movie Rush - which recounts the horrific crash that left Formula 1 ace Nicki Lauda badly burned in 1976.

Track safety officials raced to the scene of the fatal accident just after 11.30am.

The car crashed through a wall of tyres and hit a concrete wall.

Ipswich District Inspector Dave Preston said the Porsche hit the wall with significant impact, but police were yet to determine how fast the car was travelling.

"As you can imagine on a race track and at the speeds they would have been achieving the vehicle is quite extensively damaged," he said.

"He was trapped in the vehicle for some time. He was awake and aware of what was going on around him. But at this particular time he has some extensive injuries to be dealt with.

"With the impact of the vehicle and at that speed you can imagine the crunching that would occur and the amount of damage it caused.

"The fire and rescue had to work extensively in relation to extracting or opening up the vehicle sufficiently to remove him from the vehicle."

WRECKAGE: The crumpled shell of the Porsche. Photo: ContributedContributed

Insp. Preston said the family of the injured driver were at the track and watched emergency services remove him from the car.

"They were out here to drive on the course, it is available for private hire and there were a number of vehicles driving around the course.

"They are fairly distraught by the situation and are keen to get up to the hospital. They are waiting for any news on the medical situation on their son."

Insp. Preston said it was the first fatal car accident on the Queensland Raceway track.

"As far as I'm aware this is the first death involving actual cars. There has been an accident involving two motorbikes in the past year, but this is the first time we have had a death involving a motor vehicle."

The accident is being investigated by the Forensic Crash Unit and workplace health and safety. Police were seeking any video footage taken by spectators.

A man died and another was seriously injured after a single vehicle crashed at Queensland Raceway. Photo: David Nielsen / The Queensland TimesDavid Nielsen